Telescopic rods

lewisc · Sep 3, 2016

Hi all,
Was wondering what your experiences of telescopic rods are? I like the idea of compact size/easy to carry etc. But would be grateful for anyone's input.
Thanks, Lewis.

sam vimes · Sep 3, 2016

I'd only use telescopic rods if there was absolutely no alternative. That's not to say that they are all bad, they aren't. There are a few modern telescopics (or half way telescopics) that are pretty well regarded.

Once upon a long ago, there were few alternatives if you wanted to put a rod in a suitcase. These days, there are quite a few multi-piece travel rods out there. In general, I've found these multi-piece rods feel better than most telescopics.

Unless it's an absolute necessity, stick with two and three piece rods. There's good reason for the vast majority of anglers doing exactly that. It isn't because they enjoy the hassle of carrying, storing and transporting long, thin sticks about!

trotter2 · Sep 3, 2016

Sam which ones are Ok I have never found one which was half way decent.
They are either as thick as your arm or have the action of a tank aerial.
It would be good if someone could make something usable

sam vimes · Sep 3, 2016

trotter2 said:
Sam which ones are Ok I have never found one which was half way decent.
They are either as thick as your arm or have the action of a tank aerial.

I had the Nash Scopes/Dwarfs in mind. However, I have an old Andy Little DAM telescopic carp rod that's not bad. On the lighter side, there are telescopic bolo rods that, despite my telescopic reservations, I'd have no hesitation in using, if I actually needed such a rod. There has also been the odd telescopic match rod hidden away in the Shimano ranges. They are usually nigh on impossible to find. However, I did manage to get my hands on one once. It was acceptably comparable to the normal three piece match rods of the same range (Catana IIRC). Needless to say, I didn't buy it, but I wouldn't buy the normal Catana match rods either.

This wasn't the rod I got my hands on, but it's a predecessor. Gives a fair idea of what I'm talking about. However, the rod I handled was a bit shorter when retracted. I can't see any point in a telescopic that's as long retracted as a disassembled three piece.

seth49 · Sep 3, 2016

Have a look at the Nash dwarf rods, I have a nine ft one that is only 44 inches long when it's not put together, there's quite a range of them and there not expensive, use mine a lot and I really like it.

mikench · Sep 3, 2016

I have one for beach casting and it is ok for that . It is 14 feet and heavy. I cannot comment on course rods but I suspect only for emergencies or chance encounters.

lewisc · Sep 3, 2016

Thanks for the replies. Had a quick look at the Nash dwarf's, they look like they might fit the bill. Do you reckon they'd be ok for a bit of light lure fishing? (Not for specimen pike!)

sam vimes · Sep 3, 2016

lewisc said:
Thanks for the replies. Had a quick look at the Nash dwarf's, they look like they might fit the bill. Do you reckon they'd be ok for a bit of light lure fishing? (Not for specimen pike!)

If it's purely for lure fishing, there are plenty of telescopics and multi-piece travel rods out there. What's good or bad is not something I can answer as lure fishing really isn't my thing.

lewisc · Sep 3, 2016

sam vimes said:
If it's purely for lure fishing, there are plenty of telescopics and multi-piece travel rods out there. What's good or bad is not something I can answer as lure fishing really isn't my thing.

I guess I'm after the impossible! A bit of a do it all rod to have in the boot as I'll be working away a lot. Having read the specs on the Nash website, they seem to think it'll cover all aspects (feeder, float, light lures/drop shotting) although I'm sure they wouldn't say it'd be awful at anything. I do realise I'm going to have to compromise if I only want to have one small rod on me.

sam vimes · Sep 3, 2016

As long as you don't expect it to do everything particularly well, you might be OK. I couldn't stomach float fishing with any of the Nash Scopes, or Dwarfs, that I've played with. However, I can't stomach float fishing with anything other than proper float rods.

iain t · Sep 3, 2016

I have a 9ft Prologic tele rod rated at 2.75. All carbon with good rings and very well made. To tell the truth i don't notice it's a tele whilst fishing. No stiff spots on the blank whilst dragging in a low double. It has a nice through action with a lot of power in the butt section. Before i bought this rod i would have never touched a tele as most were cheap plastic things from straw factories in the far east. It's a brilliant stalking and carp float rod made from 30T carbon and light. Well worth the money. Before this, i would only buy either Drennan or Fox . This little tele is always in my car now if i come across by chance a stream or pond on my travels.

lewisc · Sep 3, 2016

iain t said:
I have a 9ft Prologic tele rod rated at 2.75. All carbon with good rings and very well made. To tell the truth i don't notice it's a tele whilst fishing. No stiff spots on the blank whilst dragging in a low double. It has a nice through action with a lot of power in the butt section. Before i bought this rod i would have never touched a tele as most were cheap plastic things from straw factories in the far east. It's a brilliant stalking and carp float rod made from 30T carbon and light. Well worth the money. Before this, i would only buy either Drennan or Fox . This little tele is always in my car now if i come across by chance a stream or pond on my travels.

Thanks Iain, I'll have a look!

iain t · Sep 3, 2016

Got mine from Ebay. The seller was home-un-leisure. Sorry got it wrong is 2.5 not 2.75.

During field testing, it proved amazing to discover so many new carp
waters that had been overlooked because of the size of the water or the
size of the carp being considered irrelevant. In practice several
double figure carp were caught including some 20’s and believe us, it
was an amazing experience.

30T High Modulus Carbon Blank
Parabolic Progressive Action
SIC guides
Heavy Duty Camo EVA Handle
Metallic But Cup

john step · Sep 3, 2016

Like Sam I have an Andy Little tele carp travel rod. It has coped with many carp, barbel in France and Spain and is a good holiday rod.
However I have bought a NGT travel 11 ft carbon carp rod and this is far superior. It is in 4 pieces and about the same folded length as a tele rod.

I also have a Shakespere 12ft 5 piece travel FLOAT rod. I can do many types of fishing using the TWO whilst travelling. Together they take up little total room.

One reel with multi spools completes the job.

no-one in particular · Sep 4, 2016

I have a Fishsense 12ft telescopic carp rod I picked up for £20 second hand with a reel and line. It packs down to about 3ft with a ring guard. I had not used it until last week when I did a bit of mullet fishing in a salt water creek. Thought I would try it out. I did not catch a fish but I could see nothing wrong with it. A stuck a float on and as I was not trotting that was OK. I can not see why it would not be OK to spin with it as well. I might be going back today to have another go but might try some dead bait or lug-worm with it for any bass that might be sniffing about. basically I think it is a fair all round rod for anything biggish, say over 3lb/5lb. Not sure how it would handle a very big carp though 40 or 50lb plus.
Anyway, I think these are probably the cheaper end of the type so it depends what you want. Here's a link to an advert with a couple of examples of their rods; the carp version can be found as well. However, some of the afore mentioned ones might be better but for the price these seem pretty fair to me with the reel and line thrown in..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8...vqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_3oze9tx3a_p

Peter Jacobs · Sep 4, 2016

I have a fair bit of experience of fishing the telescopic Bolognese style rods both in Norway and France on quite deep venues.

I have a couple of Milo Bolo' rods, the longest on being 8m and it performs very well, albeit a little heavy to hold for a long time.

The 7m version is a lot better and even I can hang on to that for a reasonable length of time.

The style comes into its own when fishing quite deep swims where you don't want to go to the trouble of a sliding float, which in my experience is not too sensitive over depths of, say, 12 feet.

Bolo' floats are very heavy (needed for casting) and usually have a deep "shoulder" at the junction of the tip and the body of the float.

They are best used in conjunction with an Olivette rather than a lot of shot down the line, although you will still need a few dropper shot . . . .

One last thing, the tips of the Bolo' rods are very fragile and a good rod comes with a protective sleeve which should be used when not fishing . . .

I hope this helps

keora · Sep 4, 2016

I've always thought that telescopic rods were strictly for beginners.

I once read an article by a pike angler recommending telescopic rods for bait fishing. I found one by Abu, 12ft long with about 7 sections. It was a good pike rod, easy to transport, good at casting and playing pike. It was much better than I expected it to be.

I eventually broke the tip and couldn't find another telescopic rod. I'm now using a 10ft Drennan pike rod, it's classed as a boat rod but I find it's the right size for river fishing.

lewisc · Sep 4, 2016

Many thanks for the input folks, Lots of food for thought!

Telescopic rods

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